I guess they probably thrash the royal cars now and then as in normal use they don’t go far. If when they go sandringham is anything to go by, the Range Rover and rolls etc arrive by car transport and they fly in. I just thought that the hearse would clog up idling along at the walking pace they was doing. When the royal cars are on the road the traffic lights etc are shut for them to never have to stop or slow down so I guess it keeps the revs high for a period

A friend had an old Rolls Royce, I think it was pre war model, some time in 1930s. It had an underdrive - which is the opposite of an overdrive - and this allowed it to move at a very slow walking pace without having to slip the clutch as you would have to do in first gear without underdrive. Lots of lorrys, ceratinly older ones and some old buses had a crawler gear which was really a very low 1st gear in usually a five speed gearbox. There is no reason why a hearse cannot have a similar arrangement. I will ask my undertaker about this in due course but I am not sure if I will be able to give a reply on this forum!

J